Two men were attacked with bottles and subjected to homophobic abuse in an “appalling hate crime” in Birmingham’s Gay Village, police have said. Rob and Patrick, who are in their 30s, were outside the Missing bar on Saturday night when four men in a black SUV shouted homophobic abuse at them before getting out of the car and assaulting them. Both men were left covered in blood after suffering cuts to their head and arms, and Patrick was knocked unconscious. Insp Steve Lloyd, from West Midlands police, said the force was working with businesses in the area to “reassure them that we are taking this appalling hate crime very seriously”. “This was an absolutely appalling attack and robbery on people just trying to enjoy a night out in the city centre,” he said. “They’ve suffered homophobic abuse before being physically injured, and we are working incredibly hard to find those responsible.” During the attack, which happened at about 4am, Patrick had his phone snatched by one of the men as he tried to film the abuse, and one of their female friends was dragged along by the car as she tried to get it back. The woman, who is in her 20s, suffered a foot injury. Rob then ran after the car to challenge the men before they stopped at a red light, got out of the car and began attacking him with bottles. Patrick said he ran to help but was then knocked unconscious by one of the men. Speaking to the BBC, Rob said: “It’s just shocking that would happen in 2021 in the UK. Especially in the Gay Village, that should be a safe area to be who you want and not have to tolerate people yelling homophobic remarks at you.” Detectives said they were carrying out urgent inquiries to identify the attackers and their vehicle, and CCTV was being recovered. The men in the car were described as being of Middle Eastern or Asian appearance, police said. Andy Street, the mayor of the West Midlands and the first openly gay directly elected metro mayor, said: “There is no place in our home for this disgusting, homophobic behaviour. I’m sure the police will do all they can to catch the perpetrators and punish them with the full force of the law.” Homophobic hate crime cases almost trebled from 6,655 in 2014-15 to 18,465 in 2019-20, data obtained by the BBC showed.